Understanding 'cute aggression': The urge to squeeze cute things

For the first time scientist measure "cute aggression" response in the brain

When you see a cute baby with those adorable fat cheeks or a puppy with big brown eyes, you may feel the urge to run over and squeeze it. This urge is called "cute aggression." For the first time, researchers at the University of California Riverside have measured the response by monitoring brain activity.

In an article by Katherine K.M. Stavropoulos, which was reported on BuzzFeed News, "cute aggression" is defined as the urge some people get to squeeze, crush or bite cute things."

One thought that comes to mind if you have ever seen the movie "Despicable Me," Agnes (the youngest sister in the movie) has strong and very emotional response when she receives a fluffy plush unicorn. In the movie, she says, "It's so fluffy I wanna die." Then she goes on to win the toy and grabs it and shakes it with excitement.

Honey D. Whitney, a Broadreach Instructor defines this as "the urge to do violence to an object that we find incredibly adorable.

The study of "cute aggression" response involved 54 participants who were given edited images of babies and animals. Some photos were edited to look cuter -- bigger eyes, fuller cheeks -- and others were edited to look less cute -- the images were altered to make certain features unflattering.

Participants were asked to report their feelings after looking at all of the images. Then researchers used electroencephalogram (EEG) testing on participants to measure brain activity. Based on the response of the 54 participants and their brain activity, the study found that two very strong emotions were causing cute aggression behavior: a caretaking response and the feeling of being overwhelmed by positive feelings.

Stavropoulos, the lead author of the study, said cute aggression behaviors are the brain's attempt to regain emotional balance when one is overwhelmed with positive stimuli. The study goes on to say that measuring one's response to cuteness reveals more about social engagement. Their data showed a correlation between cute aggression and expressions of caretaking.

Not everyone experiences cute aggression, although the response is common. In Stavropoulos' study, only 74 percent of the participants said they had ever squeezed a cute animal before.